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An old minister explained the smudges on his sermon outlines by saying they were caused by sweat and tears. And without those two marks, a sermon is not a sermon.

Vance Havner

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Vance Havner
Age: 77 †
Born: 1886
Born: February 16
Died: 1963
Died: May 2
Clergyman
Literary Critic
Literary Historian
Plainfield
New Jersey
Saying
Marks
Two
Explained
Without
Minister
Caused
Sweat
Ministers
Sermon
Mark
Outlines
Tears
Sermons

More quotes by Vance Havner

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Beware of being a religious poseur, trying to live up to a dramatized version of yourself.
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There is no devil in the first two chapters of the Bible and no devil in the last two chapters. Thank God for a book that disposes of the devil!
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The gospel is for lifeboats, not showboats, and a man must make up his mind which boat he is going to operate.
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We are not bearing our crosses every time we have a headache an aspirin tablet will take care of that. What is meant is the trouble we would not have if we were not Christians.
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The preacher who jests and jokes with his people all week will soon find that he cannot stand in his pulpit on Sunday with power to reprove, rebuke and exhort. He may be the life of the party but it will be the death of the prophet.
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There are no trivial assignments in the work of the Lord.
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We can often do more by doing less. God is not particularly interested in quantity production. That is an American standard, not a Bible standard.
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Most people would not want to live where there are no churches but many people live as though there were no churches.
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To the average professed Christian today, living so far below normal, New Testament Christianity would be a shock.
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Satan is not fighting churches he is joining them. He does more harm by sowing tares than by pulling up wheat. He accomplishes more by imitation than by outright opposition.
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Faith doesn't wait until it understands in that case it wouldn't be faith.
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The devil's not fighting churches today, he's joining churches.
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It is not our business to make the message acceptable, but to make it available. We are not to see that they like it, but that they get it.
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We need men of the cross, with the message of the cross, bearing the marks of the cross.
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We need a dedicated minority who, like the apostles of old, are willing to be called the scum of the earth and a spectacle to the world for the scandal of the cross.
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We need to take down our Do not disturb signs... snap out of our stupor and come out of our coma and awake from our apathy.
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Too many Christians live their Christian lives inside their heads it never gets out through hands and feet and lips.
Vance Havner
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We have suffered from the preaching of cheap grace. Grace is free, but it is not cheap. People will take anything that is free, but they are not interested in discipleship. They will take Christ as Savior but not as Lord.
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Make Jesus Christ your theme! I have seen preachers espouse causes and champion movements, and when the cause died and the movement collapsed, the preacher vanished too. But the man who glories in Christ never grows stale.
Vance Havner
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When the Lord's white sheep become dirty gray, all black sheep feel more comfortable.
Vance Havner